Invitation to Tea

Well. Hello,You must be here for a cup of tea and a chat.  Abi said I could join here for tea time- It's wonderful that you can join in too.

Welcome to my flat. I see you managed to find it ok. Did you get parked alright?- it's a real problem here isn't it? The visitors car park is always full.. Oh but you managed, It must be your lucky day.

Listen to me waffling on as you stand on the doorstep, come in, come in. welcome to my abode. Oh, I see you've taken off your shoes, just pop them on the mat by the door- It's not that I'm fastidious- Just a local habit that all us expats seem to have taken on board. I apologise though- you will get dirty feet! No matter how clean you think the floor is- my feet are always filthy by the end of the day.

I see you've spotted my notice board- It's a bit haphazard isn't it? It's where I keep my snail mail, just by the door so it cheers me up when I walk in. Yes, I like the picture of the hare too, they're one of my favourite animals and I often get a picture or something from the family in the post. The beach hut postcard came this week- it took nearly 3 weeks to get here from the UK, I seriously thought it had got lost. My grandma will be pleased it has arrived, she often sends me stuff- bits and pieces from the local newspaper, postcards, recipes, that sort of thing- It's nice to find out what's going on back at home- even if it is a couple of weeks out of date.

 The painting alongside my notice board is pretty bright and cheerful too. I got it whilst I was in Ubud, Bali, two summer's ago. It's quite small but I don't think I could have carried anything bigger back with me.

 Anyway, come on in - I thought we could sit on the balcony. I know it's a little overcast, but it's still quite warm out there. It's a shame the clouds have rolled in, it has been pretty nice today- Ok, yes, I agree with you- It was glorious- these past couple of days have been, haven't they? It certainly makes up for all that rain we've been having. Mind you they wouldn't call it a rain forest, if we didn't get the rain!

 If you have a look over the balcony you can see the local 'Taman'- The little group of houses down to my left and yes i do have a good view of the pool- it's very handy when i want to see how busy it is, before I make a decision to go down or not. Can you hear the water rustling- that's the waterfall feature at the pool- you kind of get used to it after a while.

If you look the other way, you can just make out some greenery. Yes there's a road in among there somewhere- It's very quiet though, I never hear any traffic. What I do hear though is the bump, bump, bump of the ball in the basket ball court- I never knew it could be so noisy-did you?

 

Again, listen to me rabbiting on- I haven't even offered you a drink yet. What would you like? If you like tea I have quite the selection- Earl grey, Lady Grey, English Tea or Sabah? I even have some Tetleys at the moment, brought back with me after Christmas- Once they're gone, that will be it- until I can get some more sent over- But you're very welcome to have some if you want to.

Or would you prefer coffee? I don't have a great selection of coffee- which is a bit strange since I spend a lot of my time in coffee shops- but I never drink it at home. There is some Instant coffee, but if you would like to try the Vietnamese coffee - you'll be very welcome. It's one of the nicest coffees I've had. It's very strong and almost has a mocha flavour with it. Did you see the Weasel on the bag?- The same company make Luwak coffee too-I did try some when I was in Vietnam- I wasn't too bothered by it all- I don't know what the fuss is all about- Oh you don't know what it is?.. I didn't either until I came out here- It's coffee that has been, shall we say recycled, after weasels have eaten, digested and excreted it. Perhaps on my next jaunt somewhere I could get some for you to try- would you like that?

Tea it is then! Would you prefer a cup or a mug? I have these little individual tea pots- cute aren't they, which would you like to use?

Tea always tastes so much nicer out of a cup and saucer doesn't it- saying that I more often than not use a mug- Maybe I should remedy that and use the china more often. What do you think?

Would you like something to eat? I popped into the local bakery on my way back from work and picked up some 'Egg tarts'. They are sold everywhere here- just a couple of bites worth of heaven in pastry. Yes, They're a bit like portugeese tarts- I think that's where we get them from over here-Immigrants and traders from Portugal must have brought them over via Maccau and Hong Kong and now they are here. Unfortunately I like them a bit too much- especially when they are still warm- would you like to try one- they are delicious and not long from coming out of the oven.

Would you like a scone or two as well? I have cranberry scones with lashings of butter

or I have some plain ones.

Making scones is certainly not my forte- these have rose a little but they are still a bit flat. All my scones seem to come out like biscuits- Have you any tips for me? Have you a perfect unfalllible recipe, as I think that's what I need!

They still taste ok though- what do you think?

I'm going to smother them in homemade lemon curd, or perhaps Cumberland Rum butter- So many decisions!

Whilst the kettle is boiling for a second cup, would you like to see around my flat- I'll apologise now for the state it's in - but I have visitors coming to stay from England for a couple of weeks. I've tidied up my room and the spare room- but as I've delegated myself a camp bed on the floor of the office- well-perhaps we won't go in there! I'll give you a grand tour next month!

 What do you reckon? Do you think it's tidy enough for guests? I've put out some towels and toiletries on the bed and on the chair I've left a little goody bag of stuff.

There's magazines, a guidebook, water and some snacks-Just in case they get peckish when the Jet lag creeps in. Do you think I have forgotten anything? There's also a little welcome gift with things from Sabah - I hope they like them:)

Any more tea, scones, tarts? No? That's fine-  I can see you are in a hurry to catch up with some others for tea and a chat. Will you come again next month?- Maybe I'll have tidied up by then and I can show you around properly.

It was lovely of you to visit, I hope to see you around soon and I'll be able to tell you all about my holidays.

Watch what you are doing as you leave.Take it easy,

It was lovely to meet you,

 Amanda x